Dustdevil

LOL! You'd be surprised how many men say that too. I guess the bodybuilders make it look so easy, that a lot of people think that kind of physique is just something that automatically happens if you work out a few times a week. I used to have a friend who ran a gym. He said new customers coming in to sign up -- people who obviously had no clue about fitness -- would often say, "But I don't want to get all muscle-bound or anything." My friend would always reply, "Oh, don't worry about that. We'll stop you right before you get there!" Of course, most people who join a gym never even see the place again after the second week. That's why gyms can have thousands of members, yet never be too busy. AKs advice is gold. Especially the part about making it a habit. This cannot be something you "make time for." It has to become part of your daily routine, just like taking a shower and eating dinner. Something that, if you miss it, you feel bad. But it is very important that you have an intelligent plan. Having a plan does two things: first, it makes it something you are thinking about constantly, instead of just after you get to the gym. And second, it allows you to maximise your efforts. Nowhere is the old adage, "work smart, not hard" truer than in the gym. Personal trainers are not in the budget of most EMS people. If it is, that is an excellent way to go. A personal trainer gets you started on the right foot of working smart, and knowing how to develop a programme. It also forces you to set a routine, because if you don't, you lose money. You don't have to keep a trainer forever. But for a month or more of getting started, they are well worth the money. Another way to go is to simply do as I mentioned in your first topic, which is to take an Intro to Exercise Science class at college. It's exercise physiology 101, an essential foundation of knowledge that helps you to recognise proper technique and priorities for establishing your programme on your own. And, instead of really "paying" for the knowledge of a trainer, you're getting it for college credit. I know people tend to blow PE off as just something for jocks and muscleheads, but nothing could be farther from the truth. There is very definitely a science to it. And in order to gain any benefit from physical training, you must use that science. If you just show up at a gym with no knowledge and no plan, just stumbling around aimlessly, mimicing what all the other clueless people in the gym are doing, you will waste your money. Good luck!

Several times today. I can assure you that it happens. This case is almost identical to one I had in February, vital signs and all.

You disagree with the CT scan? That's a pretty bold move for an EMT. :shock:

Any particular reason you chose to go that route instead of an actual paramedic school?

I have primary responsibility for an 80 man company. However, I work out of a clinic (see "Dustdevil in Iraq" thread) without spending too much time in the field. The pack now is pretty much just for response to incidents of incoming or other on-base trauma. I don't have to practise medicine out of there anymore. Now it's just in case I have to take care of something serious on post while waiting for a medevac.

I'm with CBEMT on this one. This is a three man job. I've done similar trips. Drove from Dallas to Detroit once to pick up a stroke victim and bring her home to Dallas. There were three of us driving non-stop, with one asleep on the squad bench at all times. We still caught a motel room in Detroit for a few hours to shower and nap before pickup time. But with it only being 16 hours, you should be able to pull it off. I'd still want a third man though. And I agree, it would preferably be somebody with nursing experience. I'm writing down names from this topic. All you people who say you can't change a diaper, I'm going to remind you of that the next time you start mouthing off about how you ought to be able to work as a nurse without all that extra education.

No. I don't know if you missed an entire paragraph or if you are just not willing to accept it. The answer is still no. You have explained perfectly yourself why not. You're getting no more than 2 runs a week at the most. You're being elbowed out of the way on the vast majority of those runs. And you're working side-by-side with idiots who aren't qualified to teach you anything or even set a minimally acceptable example for you. You're not getting experience. You're only getting exposure. Minimal exposure. Bad exposure. It will not be the slightest bit of help to you. It will be a hindrance to your future growth. The ONLY thing you are getting out of this thing is the excitement of the tones. If you are serious about both your future and this profession, you will get out now. But if hurting your professional growth is an acceptable sacrifice for the excitement of the tones, then don't expect a lot of support from the real professionals. We know when to stop wasting our breath. We know you want to do it. What we want to know is if you want to do it right. Do you? You're losing respect here very quickly. Who is trying to stop you from accomplishing your biggest goal? Did I not just spend half an hour laying out a step by step plan for you to accomplish your biggest goal? Would I do that if I didn't care? What exactly is your biggest goal? I thought it was to have a career as a professional paramedic. Was there some other goal that I missed? How in hell could you possibly get the slightest idea from my post that I had any interest in hurting your goal? You don't realise it, but you're the one being the hard ass here. Multiple experienced and educated veteran paramedics have offered their sincere advice here, and you don't seem to want to hear it. We have explained exactly what we mean and why, and you act as if nobody has said anything helpful to you. You're being a hardass because you absolutely cannot live with the thought of not having the twice a week "excitement of the tones" in your life. Do you not see how very sad that is? How very silly it makes you look? Are the "tones" your bigest goal in life, or is being a professional paramedic your biggest goal in life? It's time to decide. Let us know so we can quit wasting any time on you if you're not interested in being a pro. It is quite obvious that you don't have a clue where you stand. You need more than a little help. You need a reality check. Good luck.

I guess I just don't get what difference it makes to you what time he goes to the hospital? Did you have something better to do than your job? If so, then again, go back to the fire hall where you can sleep more and not be arsed with having to actually earn a living. And guess what; the RN doesn't make that decision. She will not be refusing the doctor's order any more than you will be. He says go, the patient goes. And, of course, if you work for an employer that expects you to sleep on duty, your employer sucks. Tell them to join the 21st century.

How dare you people crap my Chuck Norris thread! :x Okay, I have finally recovered from the beating Chuck gave me enough to post the story, and some more pics. I spent a couple of hours in the entourage escorting him around the camp. Not because I am special or anything. Just because, when Chuck Norris is around, it's always wise to have medical attention immediately available. We weren't worried about Chuck. We were just worried about everybody else, if he decided to start kicking ass. Anyhow, he was really just a super nice guy. He had a great time too. This camp is much cooler than all the big bases the celebs usually go to. I was all set to take pics of him as he got off the helicopter, but I was expecting him to be in civilian clothes. Consequently, he was right in front of me before I realised, "Hey... wtf is with that Marine with the beard?" Here's Chuck fresh off the helicopter, right before I got my pic taken with him. Next, it was on to the training grounds to meet a lot of Marines, as well as the senior Iraqis that help train the new Iraqi soldiers. In this group were a lot of the Marine martial arts programme practitioners, and Chuck talked martial arts with them for a long time. Then it was on downrange for Chuck to try his hand at the AK-47. I got video of him busting on full-auto, if I could find a place and a way to post it. After burning through a few magazines on the AK, he went over to meet a class of new Iraqi Army recruits. They were excited, but I don't think they had a clue who he was, lol. The interpreter introducing him to them was like, "blah blah blah blah Chuck Norris. Blah blah Chuck Norris blah blah blah blah..." The Iraqis get excited anytime there is picture taking, whether Chuck Norris is there or not. Of course, I was not the only one taking pics. A film crew was documenting his every step for Armed Forces News. The poor guy hardly had a chance to eat with the mob scene around him. Here he is posing with Marines in the chow hall. And leaving the chow hall to convoy back to the airfield for departure. And finally, the "autographed" pics that the entourage was handing out. The signature is pre-printed as part of the photo. I started to get him to personalise it, but I decided not to push my luck with the whole ass-kicking thing. Good times! Now I'm just waiting for Arnold to show up!

The two go hand in hand. Stupidity is not sexy, and if you're not sexy, no amount of brains is going to make up for it.

Nope. Not in the least. It concerned the patient enough to call you at 0300 when he could have been asleep, so it's your job to take care of it, palliative care and all. Yes, I know that you are very disappointed that you didn't get to see somebody in massive pain and losing massive blood, which is what you got into EMS for in the first place. Tough shit. The guy has a MEDICAL problem, and you are supposed to be a MEDICAL professional, so deal with it or go back to polishing your nozzle.

Absolutely agreed. And good job on the assessment. But aortic dissections need palliative care too.

Oh how I wish I could be alive sixty years from now just to be the one who picks you up from the nursing home.

I know it's not as exciting as wide open bilateral large bore IVs, but this patient could have used a little "BS palliative care". Did that ever cross your mind?

If you believe that palliative care is BS, then you are not cut out for it. Go play with your hose.

Plus 10 to you for taking a beating and staying around for more, instead of running off in denial, and denying yourself a wonderful opportunity to receive some valuable feedback. That speaks very well for your potential. I know this isn't what you expected when you came here. It comes as a very rude surprise to most n00bs that we actually take EMS seriously as a medical profession, and don't take kindly to those who treat it as nothing more than an exciting hobby. But now you know, and this should help you to decide if a serious medical profession is what you are after, or if you just like the "tones." Please take the rest of this post not as a beating, but as sincere and honest advice from somebody who has been there and done that. No, you haven't. You either do it, or you don't. There is no "trying." Had you tried, you would no longer be a volunteer. Yes, I know that would have denied you the opportunity to get excited at the tones twice a week, and that is unacceptable to you. But that only goes back to my original point. You have yet to get past the E in EMS. Work on that, or you'll forever be a loser. Here's the plan: 1. Quit volunteering today. Not tomorrow. Today. No experience is better than bad experience. This is bad experience. It is very obviously contributing NOTHING to your professional growth. In fact, it is hurting you. If it were doing you the least bit of good, you wouldn't have come here complaining about it. Nothing good is going to come from this volly gig. It is hurting you, and you are hurting the profession. If you care about your career and the profession, quit today, and don't ever do it again. 2. Forget about all this EMT-E and EMT-I nonsense. That's not education. That is training. Medical professionals are not trained. They are educated. The end result of tiered training in EMS will always be lesser than that achieved by immersed education in a formal paramedic programme. 3. Forget about paramedic school until you have one full year of college prerequisite courses satisfactorily completed. Growing up in the AOL generation has hurt your communication skills, and apparently your physical condition too. If MEDICINE is truly your "calling" here, and not just lights and sirens, then give 100 percent to being the very best practitioner you can possibly be. To do that takes a solid foundation. That means, you should not be sitting down for your first paramedic class until you have completed two semesters of Human Anatomy & Physiology, Microbiology, Psychology, Child Psychology, Sociology, Algebra, two semesters of English Composition, and a Physical Education course that specifically focuses on Kinesiology and Exercise Physiology. Take every one of those courses, even if your school does not require them for the degree. And, of course, any school that does not require all of those probably sucks. 4. Forget about any quickie, certificate paramedic programme. Choose quality over expedience. Spend the extra time and get the degree, not just a certificate. And when you finish that degree, don't let more than a year pass before you return to complete a bachelors degree. EMS, Nursing, Biology, Physician Assisting, Emergency Management, Occupational Safety & Health, Business Administration, Public Administration, whatever floats your boat. Whatever you choose, knowledge is power and is essential to your professional growth. There is no top of the medical education ladder. If you stop somewhere along the line, the rest of us will be stepping over you. 5. Forget about looking for EMT jobs. Education needs to be your one and only focus for the next two years. Anything else in your life is a distraction from that primary focus, including working as an EMT. Again, if you don't think you can continue to live for the next two years without the excitement of the "tones," then you have to seriously consider that you probably are not cut out to be a medical professional. There it is. That's the plan. Any deviation from that plan is a mark against your potential, and will result in you being less of a professional than you have the potential to be. If you don't want to be the very best that you can possibly be then again, let's all say it together... ... you aren't cut out for this. Best of luck!

Oh, the irony!

While I certainly don't claim to be "special ops," by any stretch of the imagination, I covered your question in my original post. I know plenty of those guys. They live next door to me. Just Google "fake seal" or "seal impersonator" and you'll see plenty of sites where Spec Ops guys show you exactly how they feel about this activity.

This is always a sure sign of a complete bullshit story. The government may skimp on details, or even give you false details. But to totally deny the existance of a military operator just doesn't happen. If you serve, you get documents. Period. Anybody who says otherwise is lying. This guy -- like most of these losers -- has been watching too many spy movies. LOL. Well let's remember that it is pretty common for the media to write headlines that are not supported by the story itself, and vice versa. You're not going crazy. There's just a lot of idiots writing in the news media these days.

Well, there is one problem there. EMS and fire had nothing to do with each other from the beginning stages of EMS. When I was a kid, the ambulance either came from the hospital, with guys wearing white coats, or from the funeral home, with guys wearing a suit and tie. Unless you happened to be on fire, the FD was nowhere to be seen. I'm only fifty years old, and I can remember that, and it began many decades before I was born. I was nearly in my twenties before any fire departments around me started running EMS. And in much of the country, it still doesn't happen. I agree with you about public expectations, thanks to television. And I agree that public expectations are definitely part of the problem. But expectations have changed multiple times in our history. They can change again just as easily. In fact, they must change in order for our profession to grow.

Valid point, but far from any point I was attempting to make. Allow me to clarify further. 1. This is not an EMS job. I thought I had said that already, multiple times, but I guess not. 2. Regardless of the title, you will do very, very little actual "first aid." 3. Most of your patients will require knowledge and treatment that you have never been trained or educated to provide. 4. Fair or not, they will expect you to be able to provide that level of care. 5. When you cannot provide that level of assessment and care, they will hold it against you. And, if you are truly a professional, you will hold it against yourself too. I agree with Timmy. They know exactly what they are hiring. And, if you want to do it, knock yourself out. Plenty of others with similar training and experience are doing it. You might as well get a piece of the action too. And really, I could not care less about anybody in BC anyhow. My only point here is to let you know exactly what you are getting into so, six months from now when they fire you for handling a patient in a way they thought was inappropriate, we can say "I told you so!" because we told you exactly what the job involved. These companies are all about the bottom dollar, and nothing more. They hire you because they have to. They hire inadequately trained people because they can. And they won't hesitate to sack you if you cost them any money in medical or insurance costs. Personally, I wouldn't want to be that guy.

We're trying to tell you that it is indeed a LOT different from what you are doing right now. Night and day difference. I have worked event stand-bys, and I have worked remote duty medic, and there simply is absolutely no comparison, beyond the boredom factor. At an event, you are EMS. You are waiting for the inevitable accident where somebody suffers trauma or maybe a medical emergency, and you transport them fifteen minutes down the road to an ER for treatment. That is EMS. REMOTE MEDICAL WORK IS NOT EMS! The majority of your patients will be things you know not the slightest thing about. Headaches. Tummyaches. Skin rashes. Nausea and vomiting. Colds and flu. Sore shoulders. Sore legs and feet. How much education do you have on any of those? If you can't tell diverticulitis from gas, you're going to quickly look like an idiot. If you can't tell diverticulitis from appendicitis, you're going to quickly lose your licence. And if you decide to do the typical EMT thing and just haul them all to the hospital, you're going to cost your employer too much money and get fired post haste. Same thing if you can't tell heat rash from the rash of meningitis or scarlet fever. How much education and experience do you have with those? Do you know which ankle injuries really need to go to an ER and which ones just need a day of RICE? Again, if you don't, you are going to cost your employer thousands of dollars that he thinks you aren't worth. Out of every twenty patients, you might see one who actually needs evaluation and treatment that is within an EMTs level of training. The rest of the time, you feel uncomfortably out of your element. Don't kid yourself. This is not a simple "first aid attendant" gig, no matter what they tell you. The guys who just need first aid don't even go to you. They fix themselves because they get in trouble for injuries. The good news is, as already mentioned, you'll see so few patients that you'll go long periods between screw-ups. Good luck!

Look what up? The only information of any use to me on that form is the address, and the caller still gives that in order to look this form up with. Nothing on the form tells me anything about the patient's current condition, which is my primary concern. I don't see any point to this whatsoever. Not to mention that ninety percent of your citizens don't have a clue what "anaphylaxis" even means.

Unless I am mistaken, you are not on an ambulance, attempting to practise medicine without an education. That is a definitive difference.

The answer here is really quite self evident, and self explanatory, but I'll go over it anyhow. The number one rule of EMS: There is no problem in EMS that education is not the definitive and absolute answer to. That said, I notice you said nothing about education in your post. You're eighteen years old and have been doing something EMS related (not sure what "joined a company" even means) for a year now. Already, we have a serious problem in this scenario. The education necessary for even minimal, entry level competence in EMS is two years of full-time college. Unless you are the next Doogie Houser, I am guessing that you did not complete EMT and paramedic schools between the ages of 15 and 17. So, what apparently happened is that you began to do a job you had never been educated to perform. That being the case, I really fail to understand how you could possibly be surprised that you are uncomfortable performing that job. I mean, really... I wouldn't even think of cutting people's hair or cooking their food without first getting a proper education. That would be insane, and possibly illegal. Why would anybody be so stupid as to assume that they could just go out and start providing medical care to human beings without the proper education? And, if they did, how could they really not understand why they were not any good at it? Everytime I try to cook something and end up making myself sick, I know exactly why I got sick. Because I have never had the slightest bit of culinary education or training. How hard is that to figure out? And, if you have that much difficulty figuring out the painfully obvious, then are you really of the intellectual capacity to ever understand a medical education, even if you attempted one? I think that about sums it up. That is the full extent of your interest in EMS. If you actually had the slightest interest in MEDICINE, you'd be well into the educational process by now. But somehow, given an entire years time to get serious, you never got past the "E" in EMS. Take that as a sign. You aren't cut out for it.